How to Throw a Beautifully Budgeted Baby Shower

Venue

Throwing the shower at home makes things 100 times easier. Not only is day-of set up more convenient, having people over at home is more intimate and free. Find a friend who loves to host, or offer up your spot to cut down the cost of renting a space out.

Invitations

Once you find the venue, coordinate with the momma to be and pick a time and date. For a 100% free invite options, use online programs like Punchbowl or Evite instead of printing out and mailing invites.

If you want to be more traditional and do printed invitations, I would highly recommend Zazzle. I used Zazzle for my wedding invitations (table numbers, wine labels and more!) and I also used them for Emmy’s first birthday invitations (we did unicorn theme invites).

Below are a few of my favorites for boy and girl! A few Zazzle tips: play around with the paper type options (semi-gloss is always the cheapest), avoid any cute corner cuts as they add cost and keep an eye out for pop ups and banners on the site. They almost ALWAYS have an awesome coupon code at the top. Lastly, keep an eye out for other party decor within the same theme as your invite. They usually have banners, coasters, thank you cards and decor that were made by the same artists and match perfectly! I did all of my wedding prints for less than $140!

Food

You really don’t need to overthink this one too much. Finger foods are really all you need. Tea sandwiches, fruit and veggies, cheese and crackers, chips and salsa. Plan your party around the 2-3:00 timeframe and nobody will show up expecting to be served a 5 course meal.

If people offer to bring food, let them! You don’t have to put on your Wonder Woman pants and pull it all together single handedly. When help is offered, take it!

When it comes to serving food, it doesn’t have to be expensive. Small paper or plastic plates are acceptable. However, if the event is small enough, consider just using what glass or porcelain you have in your kitchen and save the money you would spend on disposable.

In terms of food display, there are so many fun hacks out there. Do a simple search for DIY food displays on Pinterest… you’ll love all the options!

I found this AWESOME hack on Pinterest for a tiered food display (despite my searching, i couldn’t find the creator! If you know, please email me!)

But seriously, how creative it this? The plates and candle sticks can be purchased at the dollar store. The best part is, you could use the spray paint for so many other projects for the shower to make everything match perfectly!

When it comes to sweets, a custom-made three-tiered cake can be pricey. Cupcakes are always cheaper to make and can be easily decorated yourself.

I own a little icing tool from Wilton that seriously makes my homemade cupcakes look like they were done at a bakery and it cost less $10! Find it on Amazon here.

Another sweet treat option is dipped marshmallows or rice crispy treats! Get the full tutorial at Honey and Lime.

Decor

Next to food, décor is a big expense for a baby shower. And rightfully so… you want the mom-to-be to remember this day as being whimsical and beautiful, but that can get pretty expensive.

One of the greatest ways to decorate a baby shower is with items you plan to gift to the mama. Decorate with Onesies, baby shoes, baby hats, socks, etc. You can easily display these on a clothes line with clips like below.

Photo via BabyIdeas.com

Next, you can skip an edible cake and make a diaper cake instead! All the diapers used can be unrolled and put to good use when baby arrives!

AlliCrafts.com has an awesome tutorial on how to do this and the photos of others success stories are awesome! You can see them on this Pin.

Dollar Store Decor

In terms of other decor, you can still get by with doing it for little to nothing! Balloons, streamers and disposable table clothes can be purchased at the dollar store and can make a BIG impact!

I thought the image above was streamers at first…turns our, it’s just 3 plastic table clothes! Get the full tutorial at RainOnATinRoof.com

Glitter, spray glue and balloons! So simply yet such a statement!

How cute is this garland? You can make it with just about any color scheme and hang it directly on the walls or from the ceiling! Again, paper, string and glue can all be found at the dollar store! Get the full tutorial on GloriousTreats.com

Two Twenty One is an awesome resource for all things DIY décor. Her post on how to make your own Pom Poms has over 20k share on Pinterest! And guess what? They have tissue paper at the dollar store!

Now, for all the things you cannot make your self, start looking for them at least a month before the baby shower. The earlier you start shopping, the more time you have to find the things you want on sale!

Activities

When most people think of baby showers, they think of games! While they may have some a rep for being lame and cheesy, they can actually be really fun and inexpensive!

While it may cost a few extra dollars, having some sort of craft section for the mom to be will make the day extra special.

I had a bow making station at my baby shower for Emmy. To this day, I can still name who made a few of the bows, and my guests can always spot their creations in pictures.

Etsy has a ton of selections on bow stations in a variety of colors. You can select for them to make anywhere from 15-30 headbands in various sizes. You can browse the selection here.

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